Blue shovels unearth a new WHS
By Caroline Monday
cmonday@mountaintimes.com

After months of planning and preparatory work, Watauga County Schools broke ground for the new Watauga High School Wednesday afternoon. The new school is slated to be completed in the spring of 2010 and to open that fall.

The new school comes as a much-needed replacement to the existing high school, Boone Mayor Loretta Clawson said.

“I think we have the very brightest of kids here,” she said, but their success has been hindered by inadequate facilities. She noted that students were forced to leave school early several days this year due to extreme heat and buildings without air conditioning. With the new state-of-the-art facilities, Clawson said she thinks Watauga County Schools can grow to be the best in the state.

Clawson added that she is excited about the role the town has played in the creation of the new school and about what the new facilities will mean for the town and county.

Watauga County Schools superintendent Bobbie Short agreed that the current facilities leave something to be desired. “I think we do a wonderful job with what we've got in the current facility, however the facility limits what we can offer students,” she said.

Short said the ground breaking — which was symbolically unearthed using school-colored blue shovels — was a tribute to hard work on the part of the many people and agencies involved in the project.

“Our goal in looking at a new Watauga High School and designing it is that we design it to be instructionally sound,” Short said. “It's going to be a beautiful building,” she said, but more importantly it will allow for more up to date instruction, especially concerning technology.

The school site is located in the Perkinsville area and construction of the facilities is expected to cost around $50 million.

The Watauga County Board of Education and Board of Commissioners recently approved a floor plan for the new high school, submitted by project architects SFL+a. The plan outlines how spaces in the three-story facility will be used.

The ground floor will be partially underground and will house the auto shop, a weight room, art, drafting and welding. The main entrance will be located on the second floor, which will house administration offices, the gymnasium and auditorium. The third floor will house most classrooms.

Site preparation for the new high school will begin this month and contracts for construction of the building and related facilities will be put out this winter. Construction is expected to begin in early spring of 2008.